Live Score

7:09 PM IST, Local Time | The umpires have a chat and they decide to call the covers on. Unfortunately, we have a rain break in play. The covers come in from all directions to cover the ground.

07:47 PM IST, Local Time: Nothing new to update! It's still raining here at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo. The covers are firmly placed at the moment and we might have a long delay in the resumption of the play.

08:36 PM IST, Local Time: The waiting game goes on! With the rain causing delays, there's a real risk of losing overs, possibly happening already. All we can do now is hang tight, fingers crossed for the rain to ease up. Keep checking back for more updates.

21:15 IST, Local Time: Bad news, everyone! The rain just won't let up, and with heavy hearts, we have to break it to you: the match has been called off officially due to the persistent downpour.

Well the unfortunate news has come in and the match has been abandoned. The rain continues to pour down in Colombo and the umpires have decided to call it off. We were only 4 overs in Zimbabwe's chase. The first ODI stands abandoned! 

The rain threat was present through out the day but we were lucky to start on time as Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first! Charith Asalanka was the shining light for Sri Lanka to reach a competitive total in an innings where few batters got off to a good start and often threw them away. 

Asalanka held up one end to score 101 runs off 95 balls while wickets kept tumbling around him. Sadeera Samarawickrama made a brisk 41 runs off 31 balls but threw away the wicket and skipper Mendis followed him in soon after, missing out on his half century too with being dismissed on 46 runs off 48 balls. 

No other batter made it past the 25 run-mark as Zimbabwe kept the bowling tight but Asalanka's century enabled Sri Lanka to post 273/9 at the end of their 50 overs. 

Ngarava, Blessing and Akram all chipped in with a couple of wickets each. 

Come the chase, Sri Lanka put Zimbabwe under early pressure with a double wicket over leaving Zimbabwe reeling at 12/2 when the rain gods decided to interfere and put a stop to proceedings. 

Unfortunate for Sri Lanka as they were well on their way to a victory and they will aim to go again in the next game. Zimbabwe meanwhile have avoided a potentially embarrassing defeat and will iron out their flaws before the next game.

And there we have it, the conclusion of our coverage for the first ODI match in the 3-match ODI Series between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. Unfortunately, the rain had other plans, leading to the abandonment of the game. Join us in anticipation for upcoming matches across the globe.

Signing off for now, it's Hitesh Peddurwar, alongside my co-commentator Anirudh Modi, and our scorer/analyst Yogesh Kumar. Until next time, stay safe and keep the cricketing excitement alive!